Boot pockets: Make the most out of your footwear!

So, I have officially been in Russia one month, an anniversary I shall celebrate by departing some deeply studied and researched reflections on Russian culture.  I mention in my last entry, all those days ago, that I would disclose my thoughts on fashion in Russia, or, more specifically, fashion in St. Petersburg, and I shall not disappoint.

We must remember that Russia could, excluding the last ten years or so, be always (in my opinion) be defined as a deprivation culture.  As I’ve already explained, having to wait for things is critical to the cultural mindset.  Immediate satisfaction did not exist, and the American “I want this and I want it now,” philosophy would have appeared absolutely ridiculous and unsustainable within a culture where first there was NO food in stores, and then there was LOTS of food in stores that no one could buy because of gross inflation.  After the collapse of the USSR, there was a cultural backlash that manifested itself in the form of the satiation of random, immediate, often materialistic desires.  Prostitution and narcotics were rampant, and the weak-kneed police force maintained little control.  The opening sequence to the film Window to Paris shows a man jumping on a trampoline in the middle of the street, while a full-sized band roams about, with dancing babushkas in toe.  You get the idea.  I’ll do what I want when I want.

While perestroika and the collapse of the USSR are buried in the recent past, materialistic fascination still exists, and is particularly evident in the fashion world.  According to people I’ve spoken with, GAUD has calmed down since the 90’s, and having huge rings on each finger is no a popular a fashion phenomenon amongst the Novie Russki (the Newly Rich), thank god.  Now a disclaimer is required to explain that as a long-time resident of Happy Valley Western MA, I am unqualified to speak about fashion.  I have never lived in a city, and thus living in St. Petersburg is not only my first experience with Russia culture, but with city culture, and thus it is hard for me to distinguish what is a metropolitan phenomenon, and what is a distinctly Russian phenomenon.  Fashion, I believe, is the bastard child of both.

St. Petersburg is ridiculously well dressed.  Painfully so, and I mean that literally.  Most women sixteen and older are wearing high (HIGH) heels, often high heeled boots.  The result of living in a city populated with over five million is that every day I see many examples of shoes I would love to have, and other shoes that tempt me to gouge out my eyes in Oedipus-like despair (though, thankfully not for the same reasons.  I don’t think Oedipus’ kingdom was in the midst of a fashion crisis, but who knows).  For instance, literally sat on a bus for a half an hour in a state of utter stupor, transfixed by the fact that the girl sitting across from me was wearing calf-length, plastic black boots, studded with rhinestones, with four inch heels, and, horror of horrors, enormous POCKETS with BUCKLES on the sides.  And when I say pocket, I mean ordinary sized pockets, like the ones you find in your jeans.  Almost as bad was her huge red, fake (hopefully) snakeskin bag, also covered in inappropriately placed pockets and metal bobbles and studs.

Such is the St. Petersburg tendency.  Bags and shoes are the most obvious displays of wealth and fashion, often covered in studs, rhinestones, buckles, and the like.  I’ve also seen a few rhinestone covered cell-phones—quite fab.  Jeans are very tight, skirts and dress are very short.  Hair is fixed up very nicely, and makeup and nails are done very well each day.  What I find most impressive about the entire situation is that women are able to maintain their composed, gorgeous appearances throughout a day of hopping on metros and marshutkas, walking miles along REMONT filled streets, and standing in escalators, elevators, and stair wells.  By the end of the day I always look like I’m back from Mongolian conquest.

As for the men of St. Petersburg, they do not escape to high maintenance fashion culture.  Leather is big, as are fancy designer jeans, ridiculously printed designer sweatshirts and hoodies, and nice dress shoes.  No t-shirts or khakis, and, god forbid, no shorts (although there’s obviously a weather issue that comes up when wearing shorts as well).  Women are big on the leather too, and everywhere there are advertisements for FURS AND SKINS, or FURZZZ AND SKINZZZZ, if you so prefer.  To each his own, I suppose.

And how does poor little Cathy react to the fancy St. Petersburg get up?  Well, I couldn’t compete if I tried, and all my attempts are half-hearted, if they can be considered attempts at all.  Clothes here are EXPENSIVE, and thus buying things is virtually an impossibility in my case.  Obviously my jeans are not very tight, and I may be the only person at any given time wearing corduroys in Russia.  Nonetheless I feel that there is a personal safety risk involved if I was ever to don high heels, particularly with snow and ice right around the corner (yes, the calls of fashion persist into the winter months).  I can barely keep my balance on a bus in my L.L. Bean light hiking boots, so forget about dress shoes.  I’m also more comfortable carrying a crappy bag and old briefcase around the city to decrease my chances of being mugged, even if the decrease my scene points in fashion circles.  The only place I every really feel uncomfortable and underdressed (or overdressed, in the sense of too much clothes) is at the gym.  Gyms are generally for the wealthier crop of city residents, and it’s certainly evident at my FITNESS CLUB, which always has a very judgmental, critical, and passive aggressive locker room environment.  Nonetheless, I will do anything for free access to clean, cold drinking water and a SAUNA, and the cold stares of women with the latest waxings and gold, gaudy gym suits is worth it.  I can run faster than them anyway.